Tagged two decades ago, turtle returns to nestle in Sultanate

A green turtle that nested in Oman 21 years ago has finally returned to Oman’s shores, to nest at Ras Al Hadd beach.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs said, “The turtle was tagged on August 21, 1997, and after 21 years, this green turtle returned to nest on Ras Al Hadd beach in South Al Sharqiyah on July 18, 2018.”

“The turtle swam thousands of miles around the world before returning to the Sultanate again. The turtles’ reserve in Ras Al Hadd has attracted a large number of green turtles for nesting because of its unique, natural beaches,” the ministry added.

Ali Al Rasbi, Assistant-General of the Nature Reserves at the ministry, told the Times of Oman that the green turtle was found following a daily check by the inspectors at Ras Al Hadd reserve.

Al Rasbi said: “The ministry has been tagging turtles since the 80s. Inspectors at the reserve found the green turtle after taking down the tag number. Its tag number is 328056. The ministry has data for all the tagged turtles, including the length, width, weight etc. and after checking, it was found that the turtle was tagged in 1997.”

About the age, Al Rasbi said that it’s very difficult to determine its age. “It’s hard as it takes the turtle at least 25 years to reach adulthood and it can live up to 120 years,” he said.

He explained that there were similar such cases of turtles returning to the reserve. “One of the turtles left the reserve for 10 years and returned on the same date, at the same time and spot,” he further said.